Definition
A flight deck display system that merges imagery from an Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS), which uses sensors such as infrared cameras to show the actual outside scene, with a Synthetic Vision System (SVS), which generates a computer-drawn picture of terrain, obstacles, and runways from a database. The combined image is presented to the pilot on a single display, typically the primary flight display or a head-up display.
Plain English
A cockpit display that blends a real-time camera view of what is actually outside with a computer-generated 3D picture of the terrain and runway, giving the pilot one combined view that is clearer than either source alone.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument approach and cockpit display discussions, especially in aircraft equipped for advanced low-visibility operations.
Derivation
Combined means brought together into one. Vision system refers to the cockpit equipment that gives the pilot a view of the outside world. The name simply describes what it does: it combines two separate vision systems (enhanced and synthetic) into one picture.
Why Pilots Care
It improves situational awareness and safety margins during approaches when visibility is limited.
Analogy
It is like combining a live camera view with a map overlay, so the pilot can compare what is actually being sensed with what the aircraft’s stored information says should be there.
Intuition Check
Do not read CVS as just any screen with a lot of flight information. In this context, it specifically means a system that combines a live sensor-based outside view with a computer-generated outside-world view.
Example Sentence 1
On the night approach into a fog-prone airport, the crew used the combined vision system to confirm the runway environment before continuing below the decision altitude.
Example Sentence 2
During preflight briefing the crew reviewed how the CVS would fuse infrared imagery with the synthetic terrain picture.